Chapter 555

The Tai Xuan Realm, Xiang Jianzong.

Before the Grand Xiang Jianzong Hall, Xu Xing stood silently gazing into the distance.

In his eyes, countless lights and shadows swirled, faintly resonating with some presence far, far away.

But if anyone looked closely, they could not discern the swirling lights and shadows at all—only two sharply defined black-and-white eyes.

After a long while, the strange phenomenon in Xu Xing's eyes vanished; he retracted his gaze and walked slowly down the steps.

Not long after, thin mists began to curl around him.

The further he descended, the thicker the mist became, and visibility dropped accordingly.

Yet Xu Xing paid no mind, continuing his slow pace as he pondered what he had just seen.

"The timing ended about as I expected. Now we'll see how they choose."

What he meant was not within the Tai Xuan Realm, nor the world the first batch of Ascension Envoys had gone to—but…

The Beast God Realm!

Just now, Xu Xing's Sword Intent Spiritual Body, which had been reassigned from the Tai Xuan Realm to the Beast God Realm, confirmed that the war between humanity and the Beast God Clan in that realm had ended, and the flow of time had returned to normal.

As the first world Xu Xing explored after proposing the Ascension Plan, and the highest-energy world outside the Tai Xuan Realm to date,

he naturally valued it greatly.

When he first entered the Beast God Realm, he granted the two little ones he first met each a legacy.

Xi Yun's "Yang" and "Sword."

And Xi Li's "Yin" and "Sword."

Later, Xi Yun successfully ascended to Tong Xuan through a trace of Dao essence left by Xi, but was killed by the world's "Hun Tian Yi."

Though Huo had interfered, it was ultimately a being of the Dao-attained level that had slain him.

Thus, what returned could only be "Xi Yun," not "Xi Yun."

And the "choice" Xu Xing spoke of…

Was naturally the Ascension Platform!

Originally, the five True Immortals of the Tai Xuan Realm had gone to the Beast God Realm.

They drained Hun Tian Yi and destroyed the Beast God.

At the final moment, the Beast God stepped beyond the realm's boundary and chose to take Xu Xing's sword directly—and died.

Both Hun Tian Yi and the Beast God perished; their respective "weight" returned.

But the Hun Tian Yi, formed by the fusion of the two, had occupied the entire "weight" of the Beast God Realm for one hundred thousand years.

Upon sudden return, the Beast God Realm needed time to recover and heal—let alone that the Beast God died beyond the realm, leaving some "weight" scattered outside the world…

Thus, aside from Xi Yun, revived by Huo, no other Fan Xu cultivators within ten thousand years could hope to merge with the Dao.

"But I still need to wait a while before deploying it."

After all, the two clans' war had just ended; the entire human population of the Beast God Realm was still in reconstruction. Even if I deployed the Ascension Platform now, no one would be willing to ascend and leave…

As he pondered, the mist around him grew thinner.

Suddenly!

The mist around him shuddered, as if a dark shadow had flashed through it and vanished.

Then, Xu Xing felt a sudden heaviness on his right shoulder!

A chilling, eerie aura spread from behind him, casting the entire mountain under a dark, gloomy shadow, as if infused with all the negative emotions of the mortal world.

"Hehehe!"

Amid the sinister laughter, the cold, dark sensation clung tighter along Xu Xing's shoulder, growing denser.

Xu Xing's expression remained unchanged; he continued walking downhill, asking:

"What brings you to the Xiang Jianzong, Elder?"

The chilling aura paused.

"…"

The dark shadow enveloping the mountain vanished instantly, coalescing into a twisting, flickering black figure beside Xu Xing.

"Boring! Boring!"

The visitor was You.

More precisely, a fragment of You's divine consciousness.

He drifted around Xu Xing once, then said seriously: "Xu Xing, you didn't already know I was here, did you?" "How could I?" Xu Xing denied outright. "I only recognized you after hearing your laugh."

Don't give me that!

I'd believe you if pigs flew!

"You never speak a single truth! Are you afraid of hurting this old man's feelings?"

"Hmm…" Xu Xing said nothing, instead asking, "Elder, why are you here at the Xiang Jianzong? Did something happen on the front lines?"

"What's there to happen? That old Wang Ba, Xuan, is as good as dead—he just keeps sending out biological weapons to harass us, and won't even release a single Dao Soldier or Ghost Beast!"

You cursed loudly.

"Clearly up to no good!"

"That damn Gu…"

At the mention of the Cang Clan, he cursed the ancestors of both Xuan and Gu for eighteen generations—no repetition, not a single phrase reused.

"Almost forgot—those two old Wang Ba sons were born without mothers."

"Forget those two Wang Ba sons. Let me get to the point."

Xu Xing gave a slight nod.

"Elder, please speak."

"Kid Xu Xing, do you still remember that world where you stopped to rest after being schemed by that old bastard Xuan and falling out of the Profound Xuan Realm?"

Xu Xing's heart stirred.

"You mean that Tongxuan Greater Realm where immortals and gods alternated, right in the middle of an epoch transition?"

"Naturally I remember."

In that world he had not left behind a Sword Intent Spirit Body, but instead branded the rule of 'Ascension' into the world.

"Hehe! That world produced quite a few fine seedlings, and there's also that junior who got the fortuitous encounter from you and the kid Hong…"

According to Senior You's account, after they left, quite a few things had happened in that world.

Relying on the sword scar Xu Xing had given, and the bronze mirror Seeing Hong Zun had given that could kill a Tongxuan twice over.

Jiang Lin, at the Great Brightness Xiang Jianzong…

Oh.

The last two characters have now been dropped, and it has been renamed 'Great Brightness.'

In any case, with Great Brightness and a number of Tongxuans who wished to increase their merit, the Great Peace Dao also became a colossal power comparable to the Divine Dao Heavenly Court.

And those Divine Dao gods who should originally have vanished during the epoch transition likewise survived in part, thanks to the true dharma Seeing Hong Zun had left behind.

Now they have been incorporated into the Great Peace Dao, assisting it in maintaining the order of the mortal world.

As for the Golden Crow that had once driven Jiang Lin to a death situation…

Facing those Tongxuans who wanted to increase their merit and ascend sooner, he didn't stir up even half a ripple before being done to death.

Besides these, the even more wretched ones were those 'Immortal Dao Lures.'

They, who should have risen with the tide in the chaotic times, now either honestly joined the Great Peace Dao, or could only behave themselves a little.

After all, having witnessed the supreme might Xu Xing had displayed back then, those Tongxuans had gone half-mad with the desire to advance further and increase their merit!

"Right, they also changed that world's name — it's now called 'Great Peace Realm.'"

Great Peace Realm?

Xu Xing was just about to say something when he suddenly paused.

You also noticed his strangeness: "What's wrong, kid Xu Xing?"

"Nothing," Xu Xing said with a smile, "it's just that a world I visited before has also just changed its name."

"Oh? What a coincidence?"

"Or rather, it should be expected."

The Beast God Realm was named because the Beast God Clan had once prevailed over the human race.

Now that the human race had in turn defeated the Beast God Clan, after deliberation they decided to change the name 'Beast God Realm' a little.

And the new name is quite interesting too—

Earth Immortal Realm. (End of chapter)